Genetic variants accelerate biological aging

Researchers have identified genetic variants associated with biological aging in humans, a discovery that could have implications for understanding diseases associated with aging.

"What our study suggests is that some people are genetically programmed to age more quickly," said Tim Spector, a researcher at King's College London.

Led by a team from King's College and the University of Leicester, this study was published Sunday in Nature Genetics.

Researchers distinguish between two types of aging, the first "chronological" age related to an individual, and the second "organic" due to aging cells.

The clock that controls cell aging is the shortening of telomeres, the DNA structures located at the ends of chromosomes.

"People are born with a certain telomere length, and in many cells, telomeres shorten as cells divide and age," said Nilesh Samani, the professor of cardiology in Leicester University. "The length of telomeres is thus considered a marker of biological age."

"We found that individuals carrying a particular genetic variation have shorter telomeres, that is to say they appear biologically older", said Professor Samani.

The variants are identified by a gene called TERC, already known to play an important role in maintaining telomere length.

The researchers analyzed more than 500,000 genetic variations in the human genome to identify variants located near the TERC gene. The effect of these variants in individuals carrying, would be equivalent to 3 or 4 years of biological age, the researchers said.

On the other hand, people with genetic susceptibility may age more quickly if exposed to a bad environment for telomeres, such as smoking, obesity and physical inactivity.

There is an evidence showing that the risk of diseases related to age, including heart disease and some cancers are more closely related to biological age than chronological age.

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